The Fed kept interest rates unchanged in its first meeting of 2024, but this widely expected decision was not the reason why Wall Street suffered its worst trading day in a month. Rather, Fed Chair Jerome Powell pushed back against investor optimism for imminent rate cuts, with the money market assigning as many as six rate cuts in 2024 ahead of the meeting. In his press briefing, Powell stated that rate cuts by March are “unlikely,” emphasizing the need for substantial confidence in inflation trending towards the Fed’s 2% target—a sentiment echoed in the Federal Open Market Committee’s (FOMC)…
